Acute puerperal breast abscesses: US-guided drainage.

Breast abscesses typically develop in lactating women. The recommended treatment is surgical incision and drainage with the patient under general anesthesia. Ultrasonically guided percutaneous drainage with local anesthesia was performed in 19 consecutive patients referred for treatment because of clinical signs of acute puerperal breast abscess. Eighteen of the 19 patients (95%) were successfully treated. Long-term follow-up (median, 12 months) did not show any recurrences, and the cosmetic results were excellent. Eight of the 19 patients (42%) continued nursing during and after treatment. Ten of the 19 (53%) were treated on an outpatient basis. On the basis of these results, the authors recommend ultrasonically guided percutaneous treatment for use in patients with acute puerperal breast abscesses.